Elementary School and Students

Professional Interview Analysis

This is in an interview of a lead teacher with extensive experience in public relation, administration and educating. She oversees the formulation and implementation of standards and policies in her school. Since she works in management, per of her job is ensuring that educators working in the school are sufficiently motivated to work. This interview gives a glimpse of all it takes to run a school. It gives insights into the challenges educators might face as they seek to impart knowledge on their students. It presented a great opportunity to also learn about the necessary qualities a lead educator needs to adopt to ensure that the institution they work in is a success.

The lead teacher, Gladys -- not her real name, is a very accomplished professional. She has extensive experience in education, school systems and student issues. She holds a bachelor's degree in education and has participated in a lot of conferences and seminars on education related topics. The successes from her stints in management as well as the certificates she holds are proof of her skills and work. Gladys' school has a strong Christian background and she has worked with all stakeholders to create an environment that affords students a positive experience. Running a school as big as hers can be challenging but she has created a team of teachers and students around her who all want the school to be a success.

Before she was the lead the teacher, Gladys was just an ambitious girl growing up in a small town in Maryland. She spent most of her childhood years in the small town. Her family members were strong Christians and so she grew up with strong Christian values. She was the eldest child of her siblings and this reality made her develop strong leadership skills while still young. On joining elementary school, Gladys' teachers quickly grew fond her because of her personality as well as her numerous skills. She took part in extra-curricular activities and was often the leader of the sports teams she joined. These leadership roles made her develop great leadership and organization skills early in life.

While in high school, Gladys continued to participate in sports and she would be assigned bigger roles than she was given in elementary school. Sports, she says, afforded her a comfortable escape from the teenage problems that usually come with adolescence. She observes that the skills she learnt in sports were critical in shaping her way through life as well as the decisions she made in and after high school. After leaving high school, she chose to become an educator so she went on to major in education.

Gladys has worked as an educator in several schools since she started working nearly 2 decades ago. She has lent her services to both private and public schools. She has also worked in all school settings including both rural and urban settings. Her current position her seen her adopt a Montessorian approach to education. She thinks the approach can be very productive and can be very helpful in growing and nurturing students. The students feel that they are truly cared for and appreciated. It is Gladys' view that educators should adopt the best approach that will allow students better cope and adapt to the changes taking place in their environment. Students should be fully connected to their environment. By having the students be participants in the progress taking place in their environment, they grow to be fully functioning members of the society, Gladys believes. She asserts that creating the right environment for students results in better intellectual and physical growth and this ultimately leads to greater education outcomes (Kauchak & Eggen, 2016).

A. Foundations of Leadership

Thinking back, Gladys believes that growing up in Maryland with a strong Christian background has been instrumental in shaping her leadership style and view on life. She learnt important values and qualities such as decisiveness and how to be accommodative. She is able to be more accepting of people who are different from her while still being true to her beliefs.

During her schooling years, she would return to Maryland and take up various volunteer roles in the community. She tutored other students, she joined other people who were cleaning up the streets and offered guidance and counseling to those who needed such services. Most of the attachment work she did was done in the Maryland community and she developed even stronger bonds to the community that she loved and loved her back (Kauchak & Eggen, 2016). The lessons learned during these experiences make it easy for her to connect with her students no matter their race, gender, religious affiliation or political leanings. She has created a culture of acceptance in her school that is hard to find elsewhere.

Your Philosophy of Education

It is Glady's belief that in the kind of world we live in now where things are ever changing so rapidly, educator's should be willing to change their philosophy several times over the course of their career. It is not only beneficial for them; it helps their students as well. A responsive educator is better equipped to educate children who would be able to navigate the fast-evolving world they will grow and work in. At the basic level, it is Gladys believes that education is a basic human right and every child should be able to access basic education regardless of their standing in society (Arends, 2014).

She subscribes to the Montessori education philosophy and employs it in her career. She believes the approach is far superior to alternatives as gives teachers a chance to be role models and mentors in a self-less and non-judgmental manner thereby allowing students to achieve their potential (Wentworth & Wentworth, 2013). The approach Gladys so loves was conceived by Dr. Maria Montessori and has been used for over a century in several educational centers to deliver impressive results. The results have been pretty consistent all over the world. Gladys notes that the approach makes students be more eager to learn and absorb new concepts and gives teachers opportunities to initiate and drive learning in an environment that is supportive of and prepared for learning. It is an all-round approach that considers the emotional, cognitive, physical and social environment of the child.

The approach is also in line with nature philosophy which awards education the role of ensuring that students grow as well-rounded people in moral, spiritual and mental aspects and is able to understand and fully function in the universe around them (Wentworth & Wentworth, 2013). The philosophy can be traced back to Plato. As the lead educator and with her Christian upbringing, it is Gladys belief that children should be brought up to be upright individuals and should behave accordingly at all the stages of their lives even if they are still in elementary school. She thinks that a person's view of the universe and the world stems from their belief and faith. Believing in God, she notes, can provide a strong bearing that can guide students as they wade through life. They can grow up to look up to God as the ideal figure whose purity can serve as inspiration.

As a lead educator, Gladys holds the belief that the purpose of education is develop an individual's rational abilities to their fullest so they can be able to attain the good life -- however they define it. Education should not only be essential, it should be practical. This is to say that education should be useful and have a purpose toward which it can be directed. Purpose is a powerful motivator and can help students be more appreciative of the effort their teachers are putting in to help them attain their goals and so be more accepting of the lessons given to them (Shor, 2012). Besides being practical, education should also be moral. Natural law asserts that certain moral truths exist and they apply to all the living.

Gladys states that the two philosophers who have most shaped her view of life and career are John Locke and Dr. Maria Montessori. John Locke earns a place because of Locke's philosophy which is grounded on being logical and moral. The two philosophies, Gladys says, have helped her to appropriately classify and order knowledge. A bearing towards morality have allowed her to give her best everyday towards the good of the students she serves. It has also helped her become a better role model and mentor (Danielewicz, 2014). Gladys also says that she strives to employ critical thinking and logic for her management and education roles by using experimentation and observation. She holds the belief that affording students a great environment and a great school program can be very effective in helping students excel at school and also grow into highly contributing members of the society. Gladys believes that it is critical that students are taught practical skills such as law, ethics, geography, drawing, reading and writing. Nonetheless, she appreciates that other subjects such as dancing, arts and astronomy are also relevant and helpful towards growing an all-rounded individual.

Gladys thinks that being an ideal teacher takes bringing out the best personality during lessons to connect with students. She claims that a teacher should be a person that children should be happy to be around and from whom they can easily seek guidance. A great teacher should therefore be able to connect with students so students fell at ease to share what they feel and bounce ideas off of. When students are free around their teachers, they express themselves more and the teacher is therefore in a better position to spot their talents and so help them harness such talents and capabilities. Researchers have found out that accommodative teachers tend to achieve better educational outcomes with their students than rigid and inflexible teachers. A great practice that teachers can adopt is to share learning objectives with their students and take the most productive approach given the feedback from the students to get there. They can use formative assessments to gather feedback. Another strategy Gladys recommends are teachers giving their students to organize and plan learning activities and tasks. Importantly, teachers in such a scenario should have an acute sense of discipline so the set learning objectives are attained and that the students don't end up in unnecessary mischief. Positive behavior should be properly reinforced so more of it is seen. The teacher should develop good communication skills so he or she is able to set and clearly communicate expectations.

Gladys claims that being a lead educator is a calling that started in her schooling years when she was still a young girl. The leadership roles she took when she was young have gone on to shape her view of the world and have been instrumental in shaping leadership style. She finds it fun being around students and fellow teachers and wouldn't have it any other way. The volunteering work she took part in also helped her realize that she could achieve success as an educator. She is very emotionally mature and is able to manage her reactions to the annoying things that kids may be up to that would upset the average adult. She has learnt to be decisive and so can reach decisions fast even in challenging situations (Moran, Abramson & Moran (2014).

Having a religious stand can be a positive attribute as God is all positive and appreciating God oneself can go along way into convincing one's students to be god fearing. Nonetheless, Gladys points out that educators should not impose their religious beliefs on their students and should not discriminate in any way based on religious affiliation. Every student has a right to choose their religion and the diversity of religion should be appreciated in school (Mathews, 2012).

B. Critical Issues

A number of the critical issues Gladys notes are having an influence on the students and their educational attainments are high dropout rates due to poverty, the technological literacy gap existing between students and teachers, and meager allocation of resources to student welfare.

She has observed that most of the students are more tuned to the technological trends taking place around them than some of the teachers are. The students are also more likely to have higher computer and mobile literacy than their teachers because of their love of the technological platforms and the raw number of hours they spend playing on their phones or desktop computers. The children have grown in a world of social media and most of the information they need is at their finger tips. This is a two-edged sword as they have access to both good and bad information. The reality also presents teachers with an opportunity to grow as the students continually challenge them with information that is outside of the school curriculum but which is relevant to their subjects of study. Also, gadgets are also becoming a status symbol in society and Gladys notes that some teachers may not have the means to purchase some of the latest high-tech gadgets students from well-off families may bring to class thereby creating a perception that the students are richer than their teachers (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2012).